Mobile Learning - The Virtual World of e-Learning
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Dont forget to refer to the resources in the right hand column which may help you.
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You are given permission to cut and paste anything out of Paddy McEvoy's book.
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Remember to see permision for any material that does not belong to you or Paddy. A permission request form can be found in the left hand column.
Pages: 30 sides of A4 (or less)
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Overall aim of this chapter: to give the reader an intro into the virtual world of e-learning. The different technologies available to us and how they can help with teaching and learning (discuss pros and cons of each). Don't go too much into specific details how to set things up (unless it is dead simple) because many educators are to some extent technophobes. We want to stimulate these technophobes and get them on board to at least explore the possibilities and not be scared.
- What is a virtual learning environment: The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) supports the concept of classrooms without walls, where students and educators have the flexibility to connect with their classes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Where a rich and diverse range of courses, programmes and activities.
- Examples: email groups, smart/yahoo/google/news groups, social networking sites (eg twitter, facebook, myspace, youtube), web blogs, video conferencing, audio conferencing; how they work; how they can help with learning (give examples)
- what's the optimum number of participants for a virtual group?
- virtual groups versus traditional groups: pros and cons (dependance on technology, lack of non verbals, place of interaction, timing of interaction, easier to record, individuals can chat privately
- other methods of e-learning: CD- roms, online resources eg itunes, web pages (give examples eg www.bradfordvts.co.uk, gp-training.net, e-modules eg BMA e-learning modules, RCGP's e-GP, pod casts;
- Principles behind designing an effective website
- Principles for virtual learning
- link to the educational research behind above themes
- remember: all of these are additional tools not replacements for more traditional methodology (like small group work)
- Current situation: why VLEs have been slow to take off in GP education
- Is all of this just novely or are they legitimate teaching tools?
- Other Notes:
- A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a set of teaching and learning tools designed to enhance a student's learning experience by including computers and the Internet in the learning process. The principal components of a VLE package include curriculum mapping (breaking curriculum into sections that can be assigned and assessed), student tracking, online support for both teacher and student, electronic communication (e-mail, threaded discussions, chat, Web publishing), and Internet links to outside curriculum resources. In general, VLE users are assigned either a teacher ID or a student ID. The teacher sees what a students sees, but the teacher has additional user rights to create or modify curriculum content and track student performance. There are a number of commercial VLE software packages available, including Blackboard, WebCT, Lotus LearningSpace, and COSE.
- A note for technophobes: that they don't necessarily need to be techno wizards - they just need the idea and for someone else (may be a computer person or a techno trainee) to set it up.